The agreement sealed the fates of several independent small states and thrust them into the maelstrom of a new world war. The pact condemned Finland to the status of a victim of the state terror of Stalin's Soviet Union. The aggression inflicted enormous human and material losses on Finland; a Soviet occupation would have cost the lives and liberty of tens of thousands of Finnish citizens more.

The Soviet Union attacked Finland on 30 November 1939 with massive bombings of our towns and cities and the destruction of our civilian population. The Soviet Union, supported by Nazi-Germany and violating its international and bilateral agreements, launched a war of aggression against Finland. The Red Army crossed Finland's eastern border despite a pact of non-aggression that was signed in 1932 and extended in 1934.

Finland's Winter War was a struggle for the Finnish state, social structure, and culture. It was a battle against dictatorship and a society based on communist ideology. It was the Finnish people's unanimous expression of will-power against Bolshevik totalitarianism and red fascism. The Finnish Anti-Fascist Committee reminds of the historical significance of this struggle for our democratic system of government.

Today marks exactly 73 years since the end of the Winter War. Under the peace agreement, hostilities ceased on 13 March 1940 at 11 am. Finnish Foreign Minister Väinö Tanner read a speech on state radio, in which he reminded that Finland was drawn into the war not because of its own actions, but because of the Soviet Union’s territorial claims. "Finland trusted the agreements that we had signed with our neighbour and in the latter’s repeated declarations of peace," Mr Tanner said.

Even though the conditions of peace were harsh, Finland retained its independence. "Defending against an overwhelming enemy, our army has had to deploy all its strength. It has managed its task superbly. Our defence has exceeded all expectations. It was generally thought that the mission was impossible, but this was not so. [...] We have shown the way to small nations faced with demands from dictatorial states," Mr Tanner stated.

The official historiography in today's Russia upholds the myth of a "Great Patriotic War" that was instilled into the Russian psyche during the era of Soviet totalitarianism. The falsification of the history of the Second World War and the Soviet Union is aimed at keeping Russia mentally apart from the rest of Europe. Alas, we must remember that "those who do not read history are doomed to repeat it."

In reaction to the Finnish Anti-Fascist Committee's declaration on the 73rd anniversary of the end of the Winter War, Vladimir Putin called for building memorials in honour of the Red Army's war of aggression against independent Finland, AP reported.

Speaking at a meeting with official military historians, Putin asserted that Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin launched the war to "correct mistakes" made in drawing the border with Finland after the Bolsheviks seized power in Russia in 1917. Putin said the invading Red Army made Finland "feel all the power of the Russian, then Soviet state."

Estimates of the number Red Army soldiers killed in the Winter War vary greatly. According to a semi-official estimate, nearly 130,000 Soviet soldiers were killed. The number of Finnish soldiers killed in combat totalled around 25,000.